Belated film reviews: Ferris Bueller's Day Off

This is going to be slightly different from what you have read so far, only because we are (quite accidentally, actually) talking about a film I have seen several times and love.

Remember the lists I mentioned a few posts ago? I have four of them, to be exact. The first one is the "Disney Channel Original Movie" list. Then, we have the "Teen Rom-Com" list, the more general "Rom-Com" list, and the "Best films from the 80s" list. Contrary to the first three, which I found already curated, I created the 80s list myself, fashioned out of a couple of "top 20/30/50 movies" lists from the decade. And, every time I sit down to watch a film, I open the page and pick something, completely randomly, and see if it fits my specifics of the day. (i.e mood, time frame...)

I have always loved films from the eighties, and pop culture of the decade in general, but I can never remember the ones I have already seen, especially since my brother, who has grown up in the eighties, made me watch a few when I was younger. Before I sat down to take my pick last night, we had had a conversation over dinner during which he was absolutely horrified to find out that I had never seen The Terminator, I had only watched The Goonies once, and I had never seen anything starring Mel Gibson, which is usually what happens when your preferred genre of filmed fiction does not involve heavy weaponry.

But then again, my brother has never seen one of my favourite flicks from the eighties: Ferris Bueller's Day Off.

I don't remember how I even came across Ferris Bueller's Day Off, as it never was popular in France, to the best of my knowledge, but I have owned a DVD copy of it for years, which, somehow, I remember buying from HMV during one of my many, many trips to the UK. Our mutual origin story is nothing but a mystery, and I do love revisiting the film every once in a while.

Ferris Bueller's Day Off is nothing short of a cult classic, and a pure John Hughes product. It has got a killer soundtrack, it is packed to the brim with adventures you can only dream to live when you're a kid, and the cinematography, even from my untrained understanding, is stunning to say the least.

In case you haven't seen Ferris Bueller's Day Off, let's set the scene.

It's a very ordinary day in a cute suburb of Chicago, Illinois, sometime in the eighties, and Ferris Bueller, the kind of teenager who could charm his way out of anything, has decided he is not going to school today. He has already played truant nine times this semester, and he is deadset on making the most out of it. He expertly plans his fake symptoms to trick his loving parents into believing he is very ill, cleverly sets up his bedroom so no one realises he is gone, and works at convincing his best friend, the quiet Cameron, to spend the day with him. After a lot of back and forth, Cameron agrees to drive his father's priceless Ferrari from the sixties, which he loves more than his own son, the pair collect Ferris' girlfriend, Sloane, from their school, and they head to nearby Chicago to have a day to remember.

Objectively, if I ever chose to watch this film with my grown-up eyes and the invasion of the heavy baggage of a girl who has had a toxic best friend in the past, I would easily spot that Ferris Bueller, despite being heavily popular at his school, is not the nicest kid on the block. He plays everyone he meets like a fiddle, but, most importantly Cameron, who he's known since they were kids. You could argue that making your supposed best friend drive his father's expensive car, especially when you know said father loves the vehicle more than he could ever love his son and knows the mileage on it to the detail, is a dick move, and I wouldn't even disagree with you. Ferris Bueller truly is the kind of boy who has never had anyone saying no to him, and he takes full advantage of it. He believes the world is his oyster to a hellish extent. He knows he is so goddamn charming that he could get anyone to do anything for him. He's terribly clever but only uses it for his own personal benefit. He is selfish and thinks he knows better. It's not hard to tell he is going to grow up to become a, a horrible person, or b, rich by conning the hell out of absolutely everyone he meets.

But I never watch Ferris Bueller's Day Off with the eyes of a grown-up with too much baggage for her own good, because it is not how you're supposed to view it.

It has been designed as a heartwarming film from the eighties, the completely surrealist adventures of three teenagers before they graduate high school, they go their own way, and everything changes in their little world. It's their last hurrah as careless kids.

And it's made in such a way that it is so easy to get sucked in and forget the objective traits of Ferris' personality or how utterly unrealistic their day off is. No one cares about that part. Yes, it's unrealistic and downright impossible that they would never get caught, or live all these adventures seamlessly, but who cares?

Opposing every single one of Cameron's worries (which are aplenty), they abandon the Ferrari in a garage, at the hands of a suspicious attendant, and head into downtown, pre-Bean Chicago. See, I love Chicago. I have never had anything but brilliant memories in Chicago. Right now, especially after being cooped up in the middle of the French countryside for over a year, I would love nothing more than being shipped off to Chicago on a sunny day to live a day full of adventures.

And I also love nothing more than thinking "Oh, I've been there!" when watching a film. Seeing Wrigley Field on the screen reminded me of that one time my friend Alice and I were leaving the Metro and heading to the nearest McDonalds after Emo Night, which was such a weird, fun little night out, and we both stopped to take pictures of the illuminated front.

While Ferris, Sloane, and Cameron are trying to live it up downtown, Jeanie, Ferris' twin sister, is seething in high school. Her brother has basically got away with murder, and she cannot help but think that if she were to do the same, her parents would not believe her, and no one would care about her being ill. She is the picture of bitterness, and only grows angrier and angrier as the demonstrations of love and worry towards her brother become bigger and more over-the-top (the message on the screen of the stadium, the newspaper article, the fundraising at school, the collection of flowers in the Bueller's vestibule). Mr. Rooney, the high school's principal and perfect villain, refuses to believe Ferris is ill and is deadset on catching him in the act, come hell or high water.

Upon researching Ferris Bueller's Day Off further, I discovered that the film had been part of the inspiration behind iconic sitcoms of the nineties, namely Saved By The Bell, and I can see it. Zach has been modelled after Ferris. But if you tell me that the setbacks and surprises experienced by Mr. Rooney in the Bueller's house have not inspired films such as Home Alone to some degree, I will simply not believe you. The ingenuity demonstrated by Ferris in planning his escape and day out without getting caught, the way he has thought of recording a tape for the front doorbell and everything else in his bedroom is then seen all over Kevin fighting with the villains in Home Alone. It is a strangely joyous experience watching the mean guys get their due in Home Alone, and it is an equally fun time watching Mr. Rooney failing at catching Ferris in the act, over and over again. You can't outsmart those kids.

In Chicago, the trio has lunch at an expensive restaurant, pretending to be Abe Forman, the Chicagoan king of sausage, and his party, and then, they head to the museum for what is the single most iconic moment of the film.

How perfect is it!

I don't know much about cinematography, but I know this is IT. The way Cameron, Sloane, and Ferris are lined up, looking at the same painting is IT. The shot is so satisfying and perfect that the three teenagers become the painting, the piece of art. The moment when Cameron stares at A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte by George Seurat, the shots alternating between the close up of the painting, closer each time, and of Cameron's increasingly panicked face, meaning that the closer you look at something, the less you understand, the less you see, is IT. The answers are in the big picture, sometimes, and not in the details, and it's such a clever way to convey the message. The effect is even more impactful when contrasted and opposed with the quiet, peaceful shot of Sloane and Ferris kissing in front of Chagall's Stained Glass. The museum scene is simply sheer cinematographic perfection.

That's one thing I simply adore in this film.

It's the aesthetic of it all. There is something utterly special about every shot of this film, about the way it is constructed. It's simply perfection.

Maybe the museum scene isn't the single most iconic moment of the film, not on its own.

Maybe we also have to talk about the parade.

After having a wander around the museum, Cameron, Ferris, and Sloane end up at the German American parade. Ferris jumps on a float and performs The Beatles' Twist And Shout for an ecstatic downtown Chicago, who dances, sings, twists, and shouts with him. So, I love musical numbers in films. I love them so much that I don't even mind if they're gratuitous, as long as they put a smile on my face. Musical or dance numbers in a film are some of my favourite things on the planet. Give me every single one of them.

But specifically, give me Twist And Shout in Ferris Bueller's Day Off. The sheer JOY of it all! I could watch it on loop. (One of my absolute favourite TV shows, The Goldbergs, has made their own version of the film and parade scene, and it's equally glorious. It's the kind of scene I watch with my jaw hurting because of all the smiling.)

The ending of the film has always left me slightly puzzled, and I have never really managed to interpret it. Cameron, Ferris, and Sloane pick up the car from the garage, in perfect condition except for the two hundred extra miles on the counter. Cameron panics and freezes, doesn't respond to physical or verbal anything at all, until the trio crash into someone's jacuzzi and swimming pool and he falls headfirst in the water. They drive back to Cameron's house and seem to believe they can delete the miles by leaving the car in reverse, which, as everyone knows, isn't a thing. At first, Cameron stays afraid of his father's reaction, but then flips, and changes his mindset and, by denting the car, then accidentally sending it through the garage window, he takes charge of his own life. He will not be afraid of his father anymore.

There are reviews and analyses of the film that claim Ferris orchestrated the entire day to give this freedom to Cameron, and there are reviews that explain that this never happened in real life, it was just one of Cameron's dreams. I don't know what the truth is, and I don't really care. I like the power and the freedom that come with the wreck of the car at the bottom of the tree.

Ferris realises he has only five minutes to go back to bed before his parents come back home, and the way he runs through his entire neighbourhood, through everyone's garden, successfully avoiding every obstacle and his father's car, is made of the same joy and surrealism as the rest of the film. There is no way an average human being can run such a long distance in such a short time, especially when facing so many setbacks, without getting caught or being late. But there is it, it happens, because in this universe, realism doesn't matter much. It's Ferris' day, and he will get his way.

When he gets to the front door, Ferris faces Mr. Rooney, who hasn't given up on his manhunt and thinks he has succeeded at catching his student in the act. And you think this is it, until Jeanie, in a perfect deus ex-machina move, saves her brother and gets rid of potential consequences for him. Who could have guessed the perfect resolution would hang in the police station scene? Jeanie caught an intruder, namely Mr. Rooney, in their home, but as he wasn't there when the police arrived, she got taken to the station. She meets a guy who's in for drugs, they talk, kiss, and she changes her mindset.

And saves her brother instead of being bitter.

I know both are John Hughes films, but I find quite a few similarities between Ferris Bueller's Day Off and The Breakfast Club, and my two favourites are the fact that nothing matters once the film is over, you never find out what happens when they all go back to school, and the police station scene. Down to the colours of the outfits, Jeanie and the guy from the police station remind me of Claire Standish and Bender, the princess and the criminal, and the nod is just perfect.

And both of them are among my favourite films.